Fare-box.



P. J. MITTBN.

FARE BOX.

APPLICATION FILED 113.28, 1914.

Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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P. J. MITTEN.

FAREJBOX.

APPLIGATION FILED Emma, 1914.

Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

2` SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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PHILIP J'. MITTEN, OF OAKWOOD VILLAGE, OHIO,v ASSIGNOR T0 THE REGISTER ANI) FARE BOX COMPNY, OEfNEN HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, CORPO- RATION OF CONNECTICUT.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, PHILIP J. MITTEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakwood Village, in the county of Montgomery and State of ()hio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fare-Boxes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing. f

This invention relates tofare boxes and more particularly to the hopper or upper portion of the fare box which first receives the coins and which constitutes an kinspection box where the coins are held temporarly forinspection by the conductor, or other collector, and the passenger. Fare boxes are usually removably mounted upon their supports and are sometimes portable. In either case it has been found necessary to provide means to `prevent the coins being removed from the hopper without being deposited into the till or registering mechanism, as the case may be, upon which the hopper is mounted and with which it communicates. Many devices have been pro vided to prevent the illicit removal of coins from the fare box but in most instances it A is possible to defeat the purpose of these den gravit-ating back through the inlet opening;

lt is then a comparatively simple matter to remove it from the slot or coin opening in the top of the hopper. n

The present invention is in the nature of an improvement on the fare box shown and described in the application filed by Ohmer and Kist @ctober 2nd,19l3, Ser. No. 792,934, and the object of the invention vis to provide means which will not only prevent the coin being removed by the inversion of the box but will prevent the coin being tossed back through the inlet opening or in any way carried back through that opening.

A. further object of the invention is to FARE-BOX.

Patented Sept. S, 1914.

Application led February 28, kSerial No. 821,650.

provide 'such a device which will efectually close the inlet opening against the outward movement of y a coin when the fare box is tilted from its upright position, in any directionguandA further, to provide a very simple method of mounting the guards which will hold the guards firmly in po-k sition but will allow them to have free swinging movement; and which can bevery quickly rplaced in position, thus facilitating the assembling of the device. l i

In'the vaccompanying drawings, Figure l is vka sidel elevation of the; upper portion of a fare box showing my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is asectional view taken on the line of Fig. l and looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig.L 3 is a vertical sectional view taken centrally through the ,n

hopper Aor vupper portion of the `fare box; Fig. 4 is a sectional detail view of the guard fingers; Fig. 5 is a detail view, partlyfin section, of the support'fortheguard iingers; Fig. G is a plan view of the same; Fig. 7 a detail view of one of the guards; and Fig. 8 is a detail viewof the clamping ring for securingv the guards in position.

In these drawings a single embodimentl of the invention is illustrated and the in vention is shown as applied to a fare box of the type shown and described` in the above mentioned application, but it will be' understood that this particular form of fare box is chosen for the purpose of illustration only and that the invention is applicable ,to fare boxes or receiving hoppers of different kinds. In these drawings I have shown only the upper portion of the fare box proper, which is indicated at l and -is preferably in the nature of a recording fare box which makes and preserves a record ofthe coins which pass through the same. Mounted upon the body portion l of the farebox is an inspection box or hopper 2 which isp-ref-k rably rectangular in cross .section and formed of glass walls. y,The hopper is provided at its top with aclosure 3 having an annular series ofy openings 4, eachopening being of a size suilicient to receive the largest coin that the box is designed to handle. The hopper communieatesl at its lower end with the fare boX proper and this communication is controlled by a spring-actuated door mounted on a shaft 6 and held normally in its closed position by a spring 7. Depending from the closure 3 and secured thereto centrally of the annular series of openings el is a deflector 8 having downwardly diverging walls which project laterally a distance sufiicient to bring them into the paths of coins entering the hopper through the openingslin the closure. ln the present instance the deflector is in the shape of a truncated cone having its small end secured to the closure 3. A second deflector 9 is supported within the hopper some distance below the deflector 8 and has its walls converging downwardly and provided with a central opening 10 arranged directly beneath the upper defiector 8, this opening being of a size to permit the passage of any coin which can pass through the openings Ll of' the closure. deflector is in the form of a truncated cone which, as here shown, is inverted and is proy vided with substantially parallel side portions eXtending upward and secured to the hopper near the top thereof. It will be understood that the manner of mounting this second defiector is optional and does not form a part of the invention.

In order to prevent coins being caused to pass back through the opening 10 in the lower defleetor 9 we have provided this opening with a series of movable guard members so arranged about the same that when the hopper is tilted in any direction one or more of these fingers will move by gravity across the opening 10 and thus close the opening against the passage of a coin from the lower side thereof. ln the present instance, inasmuch as the opening is a round one and forms the small end of a truncated cone the guards are arranged in annular series about the same. As here shown each guard comprises a finger 11 provided at its upper end with an eye 12 by means of which it is pivotally mounted on a ring 13 suitably secured to the deflector. ln the form of the device here shown an annular supporting frame lll is rigidly secured to the lower portion of the deflector, about the opening 10,

p and has an annular groove 15 extending about the inner face thereof, which groove is intersected at intervals by vertical slots 16 adapted to receive the eyes 12 of the guard fingers, while the annular groove 15 is of a size and shape to receive the ring 13. The ring 13 is an open ring of resilient material and is adapted to have the guard fingers strung thereon and then to be sprung into position in the groove 15 with the eye of each guard finger in its slot 16. The depth of the groove 15 is such as to prevent the ring from exerting any material pressure on the eyes of the rings and thus causing a fric- In this instance also thek tion which would interfere with its free swinging movement. On the contrary, the lingers are so mounted that they move with the utmost ease and will promptly follow any tilting of the' hopper. The finge 1s are held in their normal positions and limited in their outward movement by means of an apron or depending flange 17 carried by the annular supporting frame 141: and terminating a short distance above the lower ends of the guard fingers. The shape of this apron is preferably such as to cause the fin'- gers to converge slightly toward the aXisoii the inlet opening 10. ln order that a coin may not be accurately positioned on the spring-actuated trap door 5 and then flipped 'through the opening 10 by opening this door carefully and allowing it to move quickly to its closed position, a projection, such as a cone 18, is mounted on the door in direct line with the opening 10. rlhe coin can only be thrown through the opening in this manner by being accurately positioned on the door and this cone prevents the coin being so positioned and, consequently, prevents it being thrown through the opening inthis manner.

It will be apparent that after the coin has been deposited in the hopper and has passed the defiectors it will be exceedingly difficult, it' not impossible, to remove it. The more inversion of the hopper will only cause the coins to roll into the space between the converging walls of the deflector 9 and the walls of the hopper. li an attempt is made to so manipulate the hopper as te cause the coins to be tossed through the opening in the deflect-or the guard lingers will almost certainly be moved acrossthe opening, as it is practically impossible to so manipulate the hopper without tilting the same and any movement oi' the hopper from the upright position causes one or more of the guard fingers to extend across the opening. Further, the cone or projection 18 prevents a coin from being positioned directly beneath the opening and thus thrown straight up through the opening, either by manipulatinglthe door or by manipulating the fare box in a straight vertical line, if this possible In order that any attempt to manipulate the hopper in such a manner as to illicitly remove the coins may be detected a tell-tale is pr vided in the form of a weighted pin 19 which is loosely mounted in an apertured bracket 20 and so arranged that it will remain normally in the socket but will be displaced by the manipulation of the hopper, as above described.

I am aware that pivoted guard fingers have been employed in hoppers for fare boxes, as illustrated in the patent to Yeo and l-ohl, No. 1,063,758,1of June 3rd, 1913, but the arrangement there shown is not such as to accomplish the results of the present CJD invention which contemplates a single opening withy asingle series of .guard iingers arranged to close that opening when the hopper is tilted in any direction. p

`While I have shown and described one embodiment of my inventionit will be understood that this has been chosen for the purposes of illustration only and that I do not desire to be limited to the details of construction shown and described, for obvious niodiiications will occur lto a person skilled in the art.

I'Iaving4 thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is :-w

l. In a device of the character described, a receptacle to receive c oins, a delector mounted in said receptacle land having a single opening to permit kthe passage of coins tl'ierethrough, and guards mounted ad- `jacent to said opening yand so supported and airanged that the tilting of said receptacle in any direction will cause one or more of said guards to extend across said opening.

In a device of the character describedv` a receptacle to receive coins, a dei'iector mounted in said receptacle and having an opening topermit the passage of coins therethrough, and guard fingers loosely supported on four sides of said opening, whereby the tilting of said receptacle in any direction will cause one or more of said guards to extend across said opening.

In a device of the character described, a receptacle to receive coins, a deflector having downwardly converging walls terminating in an opening, guard lingers pivotally mounted on said delector. and projecting beneath said opening, said guard iingers being so mounted and arranged that when said receptacle is tilted in any direction one or more of said lingers will move by gravity across said opening. y y

fl. In a device ot' the character described, a receptacle to receive coins, a detlector mounted in said receptacle and comprising an inverted truncated cone having its smaller end open, an annular series of guard fingers loosely mounted about said opening and depending beneath the saine, whereby the-tilting of said receptacle will cause one or more ol said lingers to extend across said opening.

In a device o i the character described,

a receptacle to receive coins, a deflect-orv mounted in said receptacle and having downwardly liared walls, a second deiiector mounted in said receptacle and having downwardly converging walls, ksaid second de- `[iector being arranged beneath the firstmentioned detlector and having a discharge opening arranged centrally of the i'irst-mentioned deflector and of a diameter less than the diameter of the lower portion of said first-mentioned deflector, and guard ingers so mounted and arranged adjacent to said ropening that the Vmovement;of saidy receptaclev inany direction `from an upright position will cause onefor more of said fingers to extend across said opening.

,6. Inra device of the character described,

-a receptacle to receive coins, a deiiector otally mounted at their upper ends on said annular frame and projecting beneath said opening.` f

7. Ina device of the character described, a receptacle to receive coins, a deiiector mounted in' said receptacle and having downwardly converging walls terminating in an opening, an annular supporting frame mounted onl the lower portion of said deiector, and a plurality of guard fingers pivotally mounted at their upper ends on said annular framefand projectingvbeneath said opening, said guard frame having a depending portion arranged to engage said ingers near their lowerends and limit the outward movement thereof.

8. In a device of the character described, a receptacle to receive coins, a deflector mounted in said receptacle and having downwardly converging walls terminating in an opening, an annular supporting frame mounted on the lower portion of said defiector, and a plurality of guard fingers pivotally mounted at their upper ends on said annular frame and projecting beneath said opening, said guard frame having adepending portion arranged to engage said lingers near their lower ends, that part of said depending portion which engages said fingers'being of less diameter than saidv annular frame, whereby said lingers are caused to converge downwardly.

9. In device of the character described,

a receptacle to receive coins, a deflectoi" converging walls terminating in an opening,

an annular frame mounted on said deiiector and extending about said opening, said frame having an inner annular groove and vertical slots intersecting said groove, a plurality of guard lingers having eyes at their upper ends, and a resilient ring adapted to enter the eyes of saidj lingers and to be sprungy into said groove to retain said lingers in said vertical slots.`

10. In a device'of the character described, aj receptacle to receive coins, a dele-ctor` having an opening therein, a spring actuated door to close the bottom of said receptacle, and a projection secured to said door in alinement with the opening in said deflector.

1l. In a device of the character described, c l the combination, with a receptacle to receive coins, a delector mounted therein and hav- Cri ing an opening, 'guard fingers arrangedy In testimony whereof, I affix my signa-ture about said opening to be `moved across the in presence of two Witnesses.

saine when said receptacle is tilted, a bracket PHILIP J. INIITTEN. having a socket, and a 'Weighted pin mounted in said socket and adapted to be displaced by the tilting of Said receptacle.

Vtnesses F. WV. SCHAEFER, I-I'. L. HAA'IMAKER.

five cents each. by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for Washington, D. C. 

